The Eye that Blinks

Collected tales and art around an aberrative "natural" rock formation.

On Watcher's Isle, an island off the southwest coast of the Broken Heartlands, a single mountain rises up over the waves. A craggy, steep peak, this mountain is marked by a famous sight - a colossal eye set into the stone near the peak. It faces inwards and is the known as the patron protector of Chamsmouth and its surrounding locale.

Residents speak in hushed tones of strange phenomena; diseases and mutations that affect those who stay too long under the gaze of Watcher's Isle. Only one set of people seem content to toil out in the open for extended periods: the fisherman. However, these people will not share their information with outsiders and obstruct those who try to reach the island.

Summary

If the people of Chamsmouth are pushed for details, curious outsiders may hear rumours that the eye sometimes blinks. Residents are unwilling to confirm this as the act of staring at the eye is viewed as foolish or outright dangerous by more superstitious folk. Everyone knows of a person who has lost their mind and are unwilling to risk the same fate falling upon themselves or their families.

The fisherfolk are less unsettled by the rumours but seem unwilling to talk of them.

In Art

Much of the local art, particularly paintings, produced in Chamsworth feature Watcher's Isle in some way. Even unconsciously, the shape of the peak appears in the background or worked into objects in the foreground. It is rare that an artist produces a work in which the eye is closed but when they do, one invariable fact is true: they never remember painting the eye itself.

The eye also features in poems and local drinking songs, often fitting the role of a necessary evil, an unpleasant protector for the locals.

Date of Setting

ongoing

Related Locations

• Watcher's Isle

Summer Camp 2021

Article Links
Bonepicker, Chazbar, Church of Thirasmus, Creep Rot, Derrick & Sons Lumber Company, Domesticated Hippopotamus, Eldrin Sarsatra, Elf, Frost, The Eye that Blinks, The Fabricators, The First Mast, Geganna Salt, Great Arctic Tern, The Great Vortex, Heston Lockheart, Human, Khijian, Katakan, The Last Rebellion, Liberty, Lions of Dun, Magister, Mechanical Grafts, The Mercy House, Mt. Sang, Rubyfall, The Sapient Crown, Seeds from the Sky, Sin, Stockade, Thir Met, The Threat of Endless Fires, Truthscribe Quill


This was an article originally written as part of the 2021 Summer Camp challenge. I have edited the article since then, so what appears on this page no longer reflects the original competition entry. - Theoclymenus